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June 02, 2014

Do you know the difference: awhile vs. a while (vs. protracted)

A month ago I wrote about a USA Today article that incorrectly used "awhile" in place of "a while" (link in related posts below). Just to review, Oxford dictionaries.com says:

The single word awhile is an adverb meaning ‘for a short time’, and should not be confused with the noun use of a while, ‘a period of time’: stand here awhile, but we stood there for a while.

Today USA Today had a headline that read, "Amazon-Hachette dispute may last awhile."

"Awhile" is the right choice because it modifies the verb "last."

However, a different word entirely would have been better. The first paragraph of the story reads:

"...Amazon has launched a defense against a rising chorus of criticism about its decision to limit the supply of books from publisher Hachette Book Group and warned that the tussle could be protracted."

Comments

A month ago I wrote about a USA Today article that incorrectly used "awhile" in place of "a while" (link in related posts below). Just to review, Oxford dictionaries.com says:

The single word awhile is an adverb meaning ‘for a short time’, and should not be confused with the noun use of a while, ‘a period of time’: stand here awhile, but we stood there for a while.

Today USA Today had a headline that read, "Amazon-Hachette dispute may last awhile."

"Awhile" is the right choice because it modifies the verb "last."

However, a different word entirely would have been better. The first paragraph of the story reads:

"...Amazon has launched a defense against a rising chorus of criticism about its decision to limit the supply of books from publisher Hachette Book Group and warned that the tussle could be protracted."